The True Prophecy
by The Coffee Gladiator
Summary: A new prophecy leads the Underlanders to the Overland... GregorXLuxa later on. Rated because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

The entire room was silent. Everyone seemed to be hoping that they hadn't heard the digger correctly. Finally Ripred spoke, "Well, there's a good chance it's a metaphor right? It always seems to be."

Nerissa, who was sitting to the side shook her head sadly, "I knew that this would happen. Sandwich meant to entitle it "The True Prophecy" for it was intended to be interpreted exactly as it is written."

No one, not shiner, not cutter, not gnawer had the energy to call her crazy. A new, most curious prophecy had been discovered buried beneath the surface of Regalia. The combination of it being ominously specific and the fact that every single living being in the Underland, banished or not, was present seemed to daze everyone a bit.

"This is getting us nowhere," Lapblood scoffed, "Let's hear it one more time."

The digger picked up the stone slab and began reading,

Though war may cease And peace may reign 

_Think not yet that life's a game_

_For the battle is not done_

_It will not end if not by sun_

_Human, Gnawer, Flier, all_

_You have two roads_

_No time to stall_

_Unknown destruction stands at the gate_

_At bay for now but likes not to wait_

_It strikes always when most unexpected_

_Time arrives for Over to be resurrected _

_Nibbler, Spinner, Crawler, all_

_You have two roads _

_No time to stall_

_The warrior cannot hear your call_

_The time is up_

_The Underland must fall_

_Shiner, Twister,_ _and all the rest_

I bid you now to do what's best However hard it is to go Underland is no longer home 

A chill sat angrily around the room as the digger finished. Yes, the words seemed very clear, and it seemed that they had come to an ultimatum.

At last, Luxa stood, "I call for a vote." She said, "Who believes the prophecy is to be taken literally?" A little over half of the Underland made a movement, or raised their hand to show their vote.

Luxa's face drained of all color before she spoke, "Then there is only one option. We must go to the Overland."


	2. Chapter 2

Luxa had actually been expecting a protest of some kind. But after a moment of silence while her words sunk in, there was a bit of a chain reaction. Panic induced it seemed, and then every single Underlander in the room was speeding towards the entrance to the Overland without a backwards glance.

She felt someone push her onto Aurora, and then they were off. It was nearly impossible to see where they were going, for there were creatures all over the place. The fliers without passengers were leading the group and the slimers, of course, were taking up the rear.

A voice from somewhere on her right caught Luxa's attention, "Cousin!" She turned and saw Howard and Hazard whiz by on Nike. Howard yelled to her again, "Cousin, once we arrive you must give the orders. We must formulate a plan!" He started to say something else but the muck of creatures made it inaudible.

And then before anyone had time to dwell on the ludicrousness of the whole situation, they burst into the middle of Central Park. More like spilled actually, because everyone was pushing each other and they couldn't see where they were going very well, so they just ended up sprawled on the grass next to the entrance.

The first thing that nearly everybody registered was that it was hot, almost unbearably so, and they had to hide under trees (which they were pleased to see were plentiful in the Overland as opposed to in the Underland) in order to avoid passing out from the intensity of the rays.

After a few minutes of untangling themselves from the grass and pavement Ripred pulled Luxa aside to talk to her, "Well?"

"Well what?" She replied.

'Well!" He snapped, "We both know we've got to go find the warrior, and I was assuming you knew where he lived."

She blinked at him a few times, "We never talked about where he lived."

Ripred groaned, "Do you mean we have to take all of this lot," He pointed a paw at the rest of the Underlanders who had now organized themselves into groups, "All around the Overland with us? I've been up here before, your highness, and although they may not mind some strange things, giant talking fliers and gnawers will probably attract attention!" He spat at her.

Luxa tentatively turned to glance around them, and there were indeed people screaming, pointing and running. She looked back at Ripred, "Well, I don't suppose that we can leave the Overland anytime soon. We'll have to split up into different groups and then go find different places. We'll attract less attention that way."

Ripred shrugged, "If that's what you want. " He turned to face the group of Underlanders, "Alright! Split yourselves into groups now, we're going to try and find the warrior, or at least a suitable place to live. No more than thirty to a group, we don't want to attract much attention."

Luxa, wincing a little as she spotted Stellevot among them, headed over to the group containing, Aurora, Hazard, Howard, Howard's family, Nike, Nerissa and Vikus. "I suppose we better start off then," She said, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot as she tried to block out the sun with her hands. They obediently stood up and began silently filing towards the direction that seemed to be towards the street when Ripred stopped them, "Hold it! I'm coming with you." He said as he trotted over to them.

"Why?" Luxa couldn't help asking,

"We're going to find the warrior. And when we do there's something I want to say to him." They left it at that as they walked steadily away from the entrance to the Underland and towards the endless possibilities that awaited them.


	3. Chapter 3

They had only made it onto Madison Avenue when they found that they were barely able to tread through the heat.

Luxa ran a hand over her forehead, which was already slightly burnt. She looked longingly up at Aurora who was flying slightly above them. They'd begun riding on the Fliers but found that this attracted much, much more attention from the various Overlanders passing them by.

"Cousin," Howard said, "I am thinking that we ought to find food and shelter soon, for the bats will grow weary and there is no place for them to rest."

Luxa turned to Ripred, "You know the most about the Overland." She took a deep breath and then added; "I think it might be best if you lead."

Ripred's eyes widened in semi-mock shock, "I am so utterly astounded that I will forget the fact that you didn't ask and just command. " Luxa could tell he was flattered though.

Stellovet was smirking, "I suppose that when you aren't surrounded by people to protect you, you lose your fine leadership qualities." Everybody glared at her and Susannah rebuked her, "Hush Stellovet! Your cousin is an excellent leader"

Ripred broke the silence with, "Well I think we should try and get some money."

"Money?" A few of them asked in unison.

Ripred nodded, "It's an Overland invention used to retrieve things."

"Food?" Nerissa asked. She, was doing worse than all of them, even Vikus. She was drenched in sweat and was barely walking straight.

"Amongst other things."

"Aren't we to try and search for Gregor?" Luxa asked, unable to keep the tone of hope from her voice.

"Yup but for the moment I think it's better we don't die of sunburn and starvation, don't you?" No one argued.

"Good then. Now I am sorry to tell you this but I don't think there's any other way to retrieve this money besides force. I don't think that they will respond to begging"

"What are we to do then?" Luxa asked.

"We are going to commit an Overland crime called "mugging". Ripred replied matter-o-factly.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you to the people who have reviewed, it really is very encouraging and I'm sorry I didn't thank you earlier! Also, I know that the plaza isn't used as a hotel anymore but for the sake of this story it is.

Before they could be delayed anymore by questions Ripred gave orders, "Alright, I want everyone to stay back while I take care of this, we don't want to draw too much attention. But," He sized them up carefully, "Luxa, Howard and York, wait for my signal with your swords drawn. If I call for you, don't come prepared to kill, just to threaten." They nodded in bemusement.

"Ah, our first victim," He said as he spotted an elderly woman, walking her pug, across the street. Ripred trotted ungracefully across the crosswalk, causing a black Volvo to crash into a lamppost at the sight of him.

He approached the woman from the back; she didn't notice a thing but her dog was barking hysterically.

Finally as he bared his teeth and hissed, she turned around, screamed, scooped up her dog, and ran. As fast she could go, which unfortunately for her, was not particularly speedy.

Ripred growled, "She's still got her purse!" He waved his tale wildly at York, Howard and Luxa to join him. They didn't quite know what was meant by "purse" but dashed to join him anyway.

"The thing at her wrist!" Ripred snarled, as they grew nearer. This all seemed absurd, but Luxa knew that Ripred usually had a good idea of what he was doing so she slashed wildly at the satin bag held tightly around the lady's arm.

The woman realized what they were after and tried to switch it desperately to the other arm, but just then Howard slashed the bags strings and it fell to the floor, forgotten for a moment while the lady ran away screaming.

"And now we must move quickly," Ripred said as he snatched up the purse. "Ride on the bats, it doesn't matter who notices. She will probably report us to the police." There were no inquiries about what the "police" were.

"Cousin," Howard whispered to Luxa as Nike and Aurora lifted into the air.

"Yes," Luxa said as she checked on Hazard who was leaning over to talk to Hero and Kent.

Howard continued, "Do you feel any guilt about what we did back there? For I feel it was wrong to attack a perfect stranger just for our own personal gain. I'm sure there could have been another way –"

Ripred, who had tossed York onto Susannah's bat so that he could ride in the air as well, interrupted, "Not if you want to survive. I'm sorry but they'll be no playing the good guys anymore if you want to last even a day here. It's impossible."

"It's worse than the Underland then," Luxa remarked.

Ripred chuckled, "In some ways I suppose."

They finally landed on a street with a little green sign that read "1st avenue."

"Alright. Now it's time to find shelter. So, which hotel do we want? The Plaza or the Waldorf Astoria?" Ripred said. They stared at him dumbfounded.


	5. Chapter 5

"Just pick one already! Ripred said impatiently after no one replied for a few seconds.

Hazard spoke up tentatively, "My mother spoke of the Plaza once. She said that it was very beautiful and that there were stories of a girl who lived there."

Ripred nodded, "Oh do you mean Eloise? I think I ate her Christmas story when I visited a library one time. Well, Plaza it is I suppose. I must tell you though, it is a ways away, so be prepared to travel for a while. And before we go anywhere, I think we should see how much money we have." He tore open the bag with his teeth and poked his nose through it, "Not too bad." He spoke up, "I mean, there's no doubt that we're going to be _very_ cramped in our room over there, but we have enough to keep the room for two nights at least. Three to four if we use her credit cards."

Luxa reached her hand into the purse and pulled out a penny. "What is this?" She held it up to her eye before scooping a few more coins into her palm. "They are cold and hard, are they worth a lot?"

Ripred laughed, "No what you've got there is worth in total about thirty nine cents, I doubt that could even get you a pack of gum. These, " he pulled out several rolled up twenty dollar bills, "Are what will pay for the room."

"But these are just paper!" Luxa exclaimed accusingly, as if Ripred was tricking her, "I've even seen paper once or twice in the Underland. But we don't have anything like these," She picked up the penny again and rolled it over a few times.

"Doesn't matter, if you want to get a room, we have to use these." He pulled the bag cover shut and then stared at the ground for a minute.

Ripred cleared his throat and then looked guiltily around at York and Susannah, "Listen, I don't think we're going to have a lot of space over there and we do want to stay about unnoticed for the being, and well, it's kind of nessaccery that the queen and I find the warrior, so." He cocked his head, hoping that they would not make him continue.

Susannah nodded, "We will try to meet up with some others and share your knowledge of this "money" with them. Come children." Ripred sighed in relief at their willingness to leave. But then, "No," Howard spoke, "I think it might be helpful if Nike and I stay as well. If it is alright with Ripred, that is."

"Eh, sure, your cooperative enough," Ripred responded airily.

"We will meet up with you again soon I am hoping," Susannah said as she kissed her son goodbye.

"I believe I am in your debt once again," Luxa declared to Ripred as she gleefully watched Stellovet ride off.

"Nah," Ripred replied, "Trust me, I think we all benefit from her absence."

Luxa smiled, Ripred could be ok sometimes. And anyway their party was much simpler now, Luxa, Aurora, Hazard, Ripred, Howard, Nike, Nerissa, Vikus, and Euripides.

"Alright, mount up!" Ripred ordered we want to get there before night and seeing as we don't particularly know the direction in which we're going, that might be difficult."

They flew for at least an hour and a half. A little kid on the sidewalk started crying when his balloon floated into the air and got caught on Nike's claw. One man sort of tried to chase after them without a whole deal of success, since bats fly much faster than humans walk. Luckily though, although people screamed and pointed and attempted to take photos on their cell phones, they weren't in view of anyone long enough for someone to get a clear look.

Finally, just as they were about to give up, they spotted the Plaza Hotel, and zeroed in for a landing on its awning.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I am so sorry! I know I haven't updated this in months; I'm going to try to update it more frequently now. I knew that this wasn't my best writing, and that was discouraging me. I'm really sorry to all of the people who have been waiting. Thanks to: morgans-rays-of-light, FangWannabe, tainted-ghost and Moonlight's Best Friend for reviewing last chapter, and now onto the story.

"Quick, over here," Ripred hissed at them as they began to attract attention from people below the awning, "Come on! Let's get out of here before they alert the hotel or before a camera crew shows up or something!"

"Where do we go?" Nerissa asked weakly, barely managing to stand.

"Somewhere where I can think of a plan," Ripred said agitatedly, "Let's fly off of here, as a start, shall we?"

They quietly flew to the center of a cluster of trees across the street, people screaming and pointing at them as they did so.

"I don't mean to be a bother," Nerissa began, "But I am beginning to feel a bit faint. Perhaps we could rest for a while?"

"Of course," Howard put in, before Ripred could reply, "I'm sure the bats could use a break as well. Do you need some medication?" He asked Nerissa, eyeing her with concern.

"No, just rest," She replied weakly, leaning back against Euripides's soft pelt.

"Your highness, could you go shoo away anybody who might be trying to spy on us, I have a feeling we might be attracting a crowd." Ripred instructed Luxa as he snapped his teeth up against a branch.

"Fine," She stalked grudgingly to outside of the trees and they could hear her hastily telling passersby that they were from out of town and just settling down for a bit of lunch. They could also hear how no one seemed to believe her, and more and more people kept coming.

Eventually she abandoned her attempts and came back to join them, "I don't think they're going to go away. Could we possibly find the room that we came all the way over here to look for?"

Ripred sighed, "Well alright, I've come up with a plan." Everybody dropped what they were doing to look at him, "We'll have Hazard and Vikus go in, and Hazard can say that his grandfather is ill, and that they need a room right away. And then once they're settled in, he can sneak back out and we can come through a back entrance or something." Ripred stared at Hazard, waiting for his consent.

"I don't know," Hazard said nervously, "What will I say?"

"Just say, 'Hello, I need a room for two for as many nights as possible.' And then hand him this three hundred dollars."

"Is that a lot?" Luxa asked.

"Yes," Ripred replied, "That must have been a very paranoid lady that we mugged, if she carries around all of that money. We were very lucky. I don't think we should use her credit cards yet, we could get arrested for credit card fraud." They had learned by now not to ask what Ripred meant when he used all of these fancy Overland terms that he'd read about.

"Wait, you said a room for two; won't that be small?" Howard asked.

"I warned you," Ripred said, "We can't afford anything bigger. But this will be better anyway, we can keep watch."

"For what?" Luxa asked.

"People who want to know what the hell a talking rat is doing in New York. Now go, quickly, before someone faints."

Howard and Luxa managed to help Vikus up, and he and Hazard walked out from the other side of the trees.

"Are you okay?' Hazard whispered fearfully, as Vikus stumbled along the street.

Vikus was using so much energy in walking that we didn't seem able to nod or shake his head. He did however jerk his arm around so wildly, that he nearly knocked Hazard over.

"We should get inside," Hazard said, fighting his instincts to turn and run back to the others. He pushed Vikus along until they reached the sparkling doors of the hotel.

People were still staring at the two of them as they walked inside, but now that they were without Ripred and the bats, it was mostly because Vikus looked so ill. One man even came up to the two of them to ask if they needed help, an offer that Hazard attempted to decline as quickly as he could.

A smiling woman with grey curls was manning the desk. "How may I help you?" She asked, kindly not staring at their fair skin or Vikus's violet eyes.

"Hello, my grandfather is very ill. We were wondering if we could get a room for two for as many nights as possible with this." Hazard timidly emptied the contents of the purse onto the table.

The woman looked concerned, "Do you need an ambulance?"

Hazard nearly began crying, what if this word was something they _did_ need and then Ripred would yell at him for not getting it?

To his pleasant surprise though, the woman helped him out, "That's alright sweetie, why don't you two go on up to your room," She handed him a key, "And if anything goes wrong, you just come down and get me alright? My name's Jeannie."

"Thank you. How long may we have the room for?" Hazard asked her.

"Three nights, check out is at twelve, okay? Go on over to the elevator now, Mackenzie will show you how to get there."

Hazard noticed with relief, that Vikus was smiling as they made their way to the elevator.

A/N: Hope you like it! A thousand apologizes for the delay! Oh, and if you are a reader of my story: Hogwarts: The Duel School, and you're wondering why I updated this first, don't worry, you're next.


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